There's no reason whatsoever to bypass 48th & Chicago. Nodes like this have stops all over the A Line. Yes Ford & Cleveland doesn't have a stop, true, but instead there's *two* stations a block east and west of there (Finn and Kenneth) so there's no excuse that stations couldn't be just a block away from 48th if not on it, at least at 49th.

Like I mentioned before, Council Member Schroeder shares your interest in exploring a stop at 48th and Chicago. Our office is planning to speak in greater depth with Metro Transit in the next week or two to better understand the planning process and opportunities to adjust the current draft alignment.

Since this is the part most of you are interested in, here's the project team's reasoning for not including a station at Chicago & 48th St.

This station plan does not include a station at Chicago and 48th Street. The 2012 Arterial Transitway Corridor Study (ATCS) did not include a conceptual Chicago & 48th Street station.

Substantial consideration was given to a potential Chicago & 48th Street station. In addition to conversations with neighborhood groups and business owners, a community workshop was held in the area to discuss a variety of planning considerations, including a potential Chicago & 48th Street station. Attendees included both residents and business owners in the surrounding community. Input was mixed supporting and opposing a variety of potential station locations between 46th and 56th Streets.

Station spacing, customer access and consistency

A station at Chicago and 48th Street would be about a quarter-mile from the Chicago & 46th Street station. An additional D Line station is not recommended at this location. Outside of downtown, this station plan limits quarter-mile station spacing to the Chicago & 24th Street station where a variety of dense land uses drive high ridership throughout the surrounding area.

A station at this location would provide access to a neighborhood commercial node with transit-supportive land uses. Elsewhere in the corridor, this Station Plan has considered but ultimately not recommended several stations near transit-supportive land uses despite strong ridership because of access to nearby planned D Line stations about a quarter-mile away. Examples of these considered but not recommended locations include 7th Street and 11th Avenue-Bryant and Chicago and 18th Avenue. Without a station at Chicago and 48th Street, the majority of customers between 46th and 56th Streets (about 160 total boardings per weekday) will be within a quarter-mile walk of the nearest D Line station. Riders currently boarding at Chicago and 49th Street (about 15 total boardings per day) would be able to access the D Line station by walking about a third of a mile. Access to Route 5 will remain at bus stops on every block.

Parking considerations

A station at Chicago and 48th Street would require changing curbside use from parking to transit boarding.

Impacts could be reduced by locating a southbound platform at the existing bus stop located just north of the Chicago and 48th intersection. However, this is less than two blocks from the recommended Chicago & 46th Street station. The potential consolidation of existing bus stops in the vicinity of Chicago and 48th Street could also mitigate any on-street parking reduction from the placement of a D Line station.

That seems a bit simplistic. I’m sure it contributed, but the ridership at Chicago & 48th is decently smaller than 46th. And if they’re going to avoid other transit-supportive notes because the ridership doesn’t justify them, why should this be an exception?

News announced at our last Richfield Transportation Commission meeting: Metro Transit staff now to recommend adding a stop at 70th Street and Portland (which was in the original/theoretical aBRT plan in 2012 but removed in the draft plan this year). The trade-off is that the remaining 5 bus will terminate at 66th, not serving southern half of Richfield or Bloomington. Seems like a good trade, since the 5 was likely to already be pretty reduced service -- both in hours and frequency.

The proposed changes in Richfield (adding a station at 70th, while curtailing the reduced 5 service at 66th Street) are really smart. The 5 was not going to continue all the way to MOA anyways, it was going to stop at Portland/American. It makes a lot of sense to just end it at 66th, as the ridership south of 66th is quite low, and would have been even lower without the bus going to MOA. Ending at 66th gives them a good layover point (Richfield pool) and connects to another hi-frequency route (515).

I'd heard that there would also likely be stations added at 48th/Chicago and at 7th/11th in Near North. I think they've now achieved really good station spacing. The 46th/48th spacing isn't ideal, but that's a fairly unique situation of having a medium-sized commercial node at a very minor cross-street.

Most unfortunate. Not a frequent customer of Turtle but now even less so. You'd think they'd want more transit options, but they clearly view their customers as walkers and drivers from the immediate area.

I wonder what proof the business owner has that nefarious activities are occurring?
The other question we need to ask ourselves how much race plays into this. By no means am I accusing any business or of being racist, but it something to be thought about.

I wonder what proof the business owner has that nefarious activities are occurring?
The other question we need to ask ourselves how much race plays into this. By no means am I accusing any business or of being racist, but it something to be thought about.

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Just reading that letter, I felt all types of racism hidden behind their words.